New Stirling: Journey To The Valley
by impactbluefxdwg
Summary: In an alternate universe of The Land Before Time, where Man and Dinosaur coexist, the fates of five hatchlings rests in the hands of one Teenager.
1. Chapter 1: New Stirling

**Alright, guys, just a quick heads-up here:**

 **1\. This story is set in the human world (and yes, that means that humans and dinosaurs will be seen together), and the setting is on a fictional island, which is where these dinosaurs live.**

 **2\. There will be a human character that takes the role of main character from Littlefoot.**

 **3\. The main character wields a firearm as a weapon. It is rated T, after all.**

 **And now, the backstory.**

* * *

 _Being the newest of the USA's 51 states, New Stirling Island is already an island with great notability. Situated over 1,000 miles Southwest of Hawaii, it is notable for being the final stronghold of dinosaurs on the planet, and the only place where dinosaurs and humans can coexist. The Flatteeth (Herbivorous Dinosaurs) are known for being the only living beings besides humans that can speak with and befriend humans with almost no difficulty compared to other species, and the Sharpteeth (Carnivorous Dinosaurs) are known for being the most dangerous living beings that a human can face, right behind another human. The odd friendship between Flatteeth and Humans has had a great influence on the island, and has given it an interesting history._

 _Even though Dinosaurs have lived on the island for Millennia, the island was only discovered by Humans in 1841. The British Explorer who discovered the island almost immediately claimed it for Britain, and wrote of "Massive creatures capable of human speech and intelligence like no other living being". Despite the uniqueness of this island, the only human immigrants were Scots from the province of Stirling, hence the island's name of "New Stirling." Due to the conditions of the island and the threat of Sharpteeth, the island became the only place in the world were it was not only legal, but encouraged, to buy weapons, and the island soon had a thriving firearms market._

 _In January of 1941, Imperial Japan invaded the north end of the island in an attempt to expand their empire. The Japanese were borderline brigands, pillaging and burning villages, and killing civilians. But as the Japanese army pushed south, the Flatteeth soon heard of the cruelty of the Japanese, and began attacking them on sight. These attacks by Flatteeth weakened the Japanese army from 20,000 to 10,000 in 2 months. Eventually, in March of 1941, a Human/Flattooth resistance movement was formed under the leadership of James Connery, a Human with great intelligence, a strong will, and a gift for tactics. In June, the movement began fighting the Japanese in the south end of the island. The movement had surprisingly advanced technology compared to the Japanese, and was consisted of more than 8,000 humans and thousands of flatteeth. By July, the Japanese were pushed back to the middle of the island, and by August, the Japanese were cornered on the north end. In October, the Japanese were finally defeated on the island, and the failed invasion became the first Japanese defeat in World War 2._

 _Once the Japanese were driven off the island, the Flatteeth began helping the Humans on the island slowly get their lives back to normal. Known to Humans and Flatteeth alike as "The Time Of The Great Giving", and lasting from 1942 to 1944, the Flatteeth stretched their own food and water to make sure that the humans got enough, and helped the humans rebuild their homes as well. This instance only served to strengthen the relations between humans and flatteeth, and they remain strong to this day._

 _As a toke on gratitude for assistance in the war, Britain ceded New Stirling to the USA in 1946, and in 1963, New Stirling became the 51st state of the USA. Due to the conditions on the island and the threat of sharpteeth, New Stirling was exempted from the Gun Control Act of 1968, and any Gun Control act after that, because the Humans living on the island needed to defend themselves against sharpteeth, and this often required a large caliber or full auto weapon._

 _In 1973, Sharptooth, a sharptooth whose actions made him infamous and his kind's name renamed after him, began a long rampage against humans and flatteeth alike. Anyone who stood in his way was doomed to die, and the numerous attempts to kill him failed and resulted in whoever was attempting it dying. Due to all of this, Sharptooth was thought to be unstoppable..._

 _ **Until now.**_


	2. Chapter 2: The Challenge

_Great Valley, Southwest New Stirling Island, USA_

 _7:00 AM_

"Father, I just don't get why Sharptooth is called "unstoppable."

"Jeffrey, is it because we have tried and failed to kill him. It's the truth."

Jeffrey Connery listened with little excitement as his father, Johnathan Connery, unsuccessful tried to convince him that Sharptooth was unstoppable. Jeffrey was 15 years old, contributing to his strong will. One thing that Jeffrey absolutely despised was hearing of Sharptooth's slaughter of Longnecks. Jeffrey had a strong moral code, and killing innocent civilians or Flatteeth enraged him.

"I don't care about those "previous attempts"!" Jeffrey replied "Those guys either ran away or got killed because they did something wrong! If I was tryin' it, I wouldn't be doin' it wrong."

"Jeffrey, why are ya talking about this?" Johnathan asked.

"Because I want to do somethin' about it!" Jeffrey responded. "I can't just sit on the sidelines and watch all the Longnecks get killed! "Tell me that I'm crazy if ya want, but I want to take Sharptooth down myself. I want to stop this slaughter."

"Jeffrey, are ya sure that ya want to do this?" Johnathan asked. He was sure that Jeffrey was asking for trouble, but he would be perfectly willing to let his son try and take down Sharptooth if he wanted to.

"Yes, I want to." Jeffrey answered. "But, I want to try it differently from everyone else. The reason why all those attempts to kill Sharptooth was because those people were usin' 30.06 bolt action rifles that were too small and too slow. I'm gonna do it differently. I want to use the Barrett."

"Ya mean that semi auto 50 cal sniper that we have?" Johnathan asked for clarification.

"Yes, that one." Jeffrey replied. "Frankly, that might be what I need to take Sharptooth down. I think that it's the only one that's gonna work against him. It's the only way to be sure."

"Alright then, Jeffrey." Johnathan accepted. "As long as ya know where to aim. Do ya remember?"

"I already remember, father." Jeffrey answered. "Ya don't have to remind me."

"Good." Johnathan decided. "Very well, Jeffrey. If ya REALLY want to take him down for real, then I'll get ya ready."

With that, Johnathan got Jeffrey ready for the challenge of bringing Sharptooth down. He packed MREs and some water for Jeffrey, since humans could go for around 3 weeks without foot, but only 3 days without water. But most importantly, he gave Jeffrey a Barrett M82 (.50 BMG) customized for medium range combat, with the scope replaced with flip-up iron sights, as a scope would be awkward at closer ranges.

After a few minutes of preparations, Jeffrey was finally ready. But before he left, he turned around and made a promise to Johnathan.

"Don't worry, father." Jeffrey promised. "I'll come back alive. I promise."

With that, Jeffrey set off to take down Sharptooth. But little did he know that he would soon have to change his objective.


	3. Chapter 3: A Sudden Change Of Objective

_12 hours later, 7:00 PM_

Jeffrey marched through moderate rain as he searched for Sharptooth. A few hours ago, he had heard Sharptooth roaring, indicating that Sharptooth was in the area. This didn't scare Jeffrey, though. Instead, it invigorated him, because he knew that Sharptooth was close by, and he could take down Sharptooth if he aimed for the right area of the monster's body.

"I must've walked at least 30 miles already, but I don't feel tired yet." Jeffrey thought. Jeffrey had unusually high endurance, enough to rival that of Sharptooth himself, since he had been training his body since he was very young so that he could walk or run for miles straight if he needed to.

Then, he heard something disturbing. It was much quieter than a roar, and it was something different. Something entirely different.

"Mother!"

It sounded like a child crying out for his mother. And Jeffrey didn't like that sound at all.

"Mother! Where are you?"

Jeffrey raced down a mountain towards the source of the sound. As he neared the source, lightning illuminated the place briefly, and he saw a heart-wrenching sight.

An adult Longneck apparently dying and a hatchling in front of her begging her to get up.

"Mother, please get up." the hatchling begged.

"I'm not sure if I can do that." the adult groaned.

"Yes you can." the hatchling pleaded. "Get up!"

The mother tried to get up, but her strength was gone, and she fell down.

"Dear, sweet Littlefoot..." the mother struggled to say, "Do you know the way to the great valley?"

"I guess so." the hatchling struggled to hold back the tears. "But why do I have to know? You're coming with me!"

"I'll be with you," the mother said, her tail going limp, "Even when you can't see me."

"What do you mean if I can't see you?" the hatchling looked at his mother's face. "I can always see you."

"Littlefoot," his mother breathed, "Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely."

With these last words, the mother breathed out one last timed, and died.

Jeffrey could do nothing but watch as the little hatchling, whose name was apparently "Littlefoot", called out for his mother. Watch as the hatchling's innocence get destroyed right in front of him.

As the hatchling said one final goodbye to his mother, Jeffrey walked up to the mother's body. He saw blood running down her back, indicating that she had been fatally wounded, possibly from protecting her hatchling. And when he got a good look at the wounds, he realized that there was a good portion of the skin on her back missing. Jeffrey groaned in frustration when he realized just who would make a wound like that.

Sharptooth.

He had let another Longneck fall victim to this monster. And now he had an orphaned hatchling on his hands.

Jeffrey bowed in respect at the mother's sacrifice. It would be something that he would always remember. But he knew that he could only allow himself a single moment of grief, because now he had an orphan that he needed to help.

"Maybe I can somewhat make up for failin' to save you, milady." Jeffrey quietly promised to the mother's body. "I promise to protect your hatchling and guide him to our valley."

Jeffrey turned around and saw the hatchling slinking into a nearby cave. As the hatchling slowly walked into the cave, Jeffrey was faced with a tough decision.

He could either ignore the hatchling and continue hunting down Sharptooth, or he could shift killing Sharptooth to a secondary objective and focus on saving the hatchling instead.

After a few seconds of hard thinking, Jeffrey chose the latter.

Jeffrey slowly began following the hatchling into the cave, but when the hatchling crawled into the cave, Jeffrey had to follow the hatchling by his footsteps. As he neared the cave, he heard more crying. The hatchling had to be close.

Soon enough, as he walked into the cave, he saw the hatchling again. And it was not a pleasant sight.

The hatchling was practically laying in a pool of his own tears. It was obvious that any innocence that he had was now gone. Jeffrey slowly walked up to the hatchling, careful not to scare him and hurt him even more. Jeffrey slowly knelt down next to the hatchling and put his hand on the back of the hatchling's neck. Initially, as Jeffrey expected, the hatchling flinched and try to coil away in fear.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, little guy." Jeffrey did his best to be reassuring. "I mean no harm. I just want to help ya."

At this, the hatchling almost immediately calmed down and let Jeffrey rub his back. He was glad that at least someone cared about him.

"Littlefoot," Jeffrey asked, "that's yer name, isn't it?"

"...Yeah, that's my name." the hatchling replied sadly. "...What's yours?"

"The name's Connery. Jeffrey Connery." Jeffrey answered suavely.

Littlefoot tried to smile, but he couldn't form one on his face. He had huge puppy-dog eyes when he looked at Jeffrey.

"...You're a human, aren't you?" Littlefoot asked. He was worried that Jeffrey had an unfavorable view of him because they were different species.

"Yes, I'm a human." Jeffrey answered, noticing the sad look on Littlefoot's face. "But just because I'm human doesn't mean I won't help ya. Quite the opposite, actually. I want to help ya regardless of whether yer a longneck and I'm a human."

"Really?" Littlefoot perked up a bit.

"Yes, really." Jeffrey clarified. "I really don't care about what others are going to say, but I don't believe in this stuff that says that different species can't interact with each other. It's called racism, and it's kinda stupid, so I don't believe in it. I will help ya even if we are different species."

Littlefoot smiled for a little bit, but then lost the smile as he thought about his mother. Jeffrey quickly noticed this.

"Anything wrong, Littlefoot?" Jeffrey asked.

"...Mother..." Littlefoot replied. "She's...gone..."

"Killed by Sharptooth?" Jeffrey asked for clarification.

"...Yeah." Littlefoot answered.

Jeffrey lowered his head in understanding. Now he knew for sure that Sharptooth had killed yet another Longneck. But then he remembered the last words of Littlefoot's mother.

"Littlefoot," Jeffrey began, "yer mother told you how to find the great valley, right?"

Littlefoot nodded his head "yes."

"Well," Jeffrey assured, "I LIVE there. I know the way to the great valley as well."

Littlefoot couldn't help but smile. The person who was going to help him knew the way to the valley!

"But there is one condition." Jeffrey warned. "If I take ya to the valley, promise not to die on me, alright?"

"I promise, Jeffrey. I promise." Littlefoot promised.

With that, Jeffrey pulled Littlefoot into a hug, and the two fell asleep hugging each other.


	4. Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

That night, Jeffrey had quite a dream. Or more, 5 dreams in one.

In the first piece, Jeffrey was walking alongside Littlefoot when he came across a bossy and prideful cream-yellow threehorn.

In the second piece, Jeffrey found a cheerful and energetic light green swimmer grabbing his boot at a small pond.

In the third piece, Littlefoot accidentally found a nervous and panicky brown flyer when pulling down a branch of a tree.

In the fourth piece, that same swimmer was leading a ravenous and hungry dark green spike-tail out of a clump of grass.

In the fifth and final piece of the dream, Jeffrey was aiming his Barrett at Sharptooth, and fired, his gun making a sound akin to an explosion.

Then the dream ended right there, right as he fired at Sharptooth.

* * *

 _10 hours later, 5:00 AM_

Jeffrey jolted up a bit at this last part of his dream, accidentally hitting Littlefoot in the jaw and waking him up in the process.

"Oww," Littlefoot groaned, "What was that for?"

Jeffrey opened his eyes and looked at the young Longneck. Littlefoot surely didn't like the way that he woke up.

"Whoops." Jeffrey said. "That. Was. Completely. Unintentional."

Littlefoot simply rolled his eyes as Jeffrey got up.

"Well," Jeffrey reminded him, "It's mornin' now. Let's go."

"Alright," Littlefoot groggily replied, "I'm coming."

Once Littlefoot got up, the two set off for the Great Valley.

A few minutes later, Littlefoot became curious about the black object that was slung over Jeffrey's back.

"What's that black stick on your back?" Littlefoot asked curiously.

"You can call it a "rifle."" Jeffrey replied. "This rifle is our means of defense against predators."

"Can you show me what it does?" Littlefoot asked, wanting to see what it did.

"Not right now, Littlefoot." Jeffrey answered. "This thing only has one magazine. I need to preserve it until I need it."

Littlefoot was dissapointed that he didn't get to watch Jeffrey show it to him, but he nodded his head, and the two continued walking.


	5. Chapter 5: Cera

_6:00 AM_

Jeffrey and Littlefoot marched on through the mountains as the sun slowly rose. Because the sun was still pretty low, it wasn't that terribly hot, so the two could cover a lot of ground without getting exhausted.

But now, Littlefoot was getting bored.

"Is there really anything else to do other than walk?" Littlefoot asked.

"Littlefoot, I want to make good time." Jeffrey answered. "We still have around 25 miles to go, but we've gotten 5 miles along already, and it's only been an hour. We need to get to the valley quickly."

Littlefoot nodded his head and the two continued walking.

Soon, though, right when Jeffrey thought that he and Littlefoot were alone, his head spun around as Littlefoot shouted.

 **"CERA!"**

Jeffrey had to race to keep up with Littlefoot. Up ahead, there was a cream-yellow threehorn who Littlefoot apparently knew.

She wasn't too happy to see him, though.

As soon as Littlefoot got close, the threehorn, whose name was apparently "Cera" and looked to be around Littlefoot's age, put on a sourpuss face.

"What do you want?" Cera growled.

"Uh... nothing." Littlefoot backed up, sensing her foul mood. "Where are you going?"

"I'M going to find my OWN kind." Cera stuck her horn up in the air. "They're on the other side."

Cera jumped down on a small ledge around a foot from where Littlefoot was standing.

"Wait, we're going to the great valley." Littlefoot offered. "You could come with us. We could help each other."

Cera definitely did not like the idea.

"A threehorn does not need help from a longneck!" Cera replied snobbishly.

Then, Jeffrey finally spoke up.

"Well, excuse ME, princess!" Jeffrey snarked at Cera. He was obviously annoyed with Cera's demeanor.

Cera turned around at this comment and noticed the human teenager standing behind Littlefoot. She had no idea whether to take this as a compliment or an insult, because it had been worded in such a way that it could be both ways. Then Littlefoot spoke up again.

"Well, at least we wouldn't be alone!" Littlefoot offered again.

Cera, who was obviously stuck up with her pride, just stuck her nose in the air again.

"Well, when I find my family, I won't be alone!" Cera shouted.

"Then WHY are ya still talkin' to us, Cera?" Jeffrey pointed out, annoyed. "Ya said ya don't need us. I doubt that ye will make it far, but if ya want to go on yer own, then GO. I am not buyin' any tickets to yer little "superiority speech" that ye were about to make. Now GO!"

As much as this dented Cera's pride, she couldn't argue with the teen, so she just huffed and walked away, only to slip and end up sliding down the ledge.

Jeffrey and Littlefoot watched as Cera slid down the slope and landed at the bottom.

"I don't think I've personally told you this, Littlefoot, but I don't like threehorns." Jeffrey remarked. "Now ya know why. Prideful, racist, stuck-up, just like Cera is. Doesn't mean that I'll refuse to help one if he or she needs it, but deep down, I prefer other dinosaurs."

Littlefoot just shook his head, and the two continued on their way to the Great Valley.


	6. Chapter 6: Ducky & Petrie

_7:00 AM_

Jeffrey and Littlefoot continued to march on as the sun continued to rise. Now the sun was moderately high in the sky, and it wouldn't be long before the heat came down on them. The only thing winter did to New Stirling was keep the temperature in the 70's at the hottest possible temperature, and it was still warm. They still had 20 miles to go until the valley, but at least they were making good progress.

As the day went on, Jeffrey could notice that Littlefoot was definitely not a happy young longneck like people would expect. Instead, Littlefoot looked constantly bummed out.

"Littlefoot," Jeffrey noticed, "Ya don't look too happy right now. Why is that?"

"Well, I still feel alone." Littlefoot replied.

"Why do ya still feel alone?" Jeffrey asked.

"Well..." Littlefoot answered, "you are the only one who really cares about me right now. No one else does right now. My mother's dead, and I have no idea what happened to my Grandparents. You are the only one who cares about me that can help me."

"That's a shame." Jeffrey replied. "I'm really sorry that no one else cares about ya. But I'll do my best to protect ya."

Around a minute later, Jeffrey and Littlefoot came to a small pond. They decided to briefly rest there. Jeffrey, who was finally feeling hungry and thirsty after not eating or drinking at all yesterday, ate one of his MREs and drank from his water bottle, while Littlefoot laid down next to the water and chewed on dry leaves from a bush. Once Jeffrey was done eating and drinking for that morning, he put the MRE container away, and he refilled his water bottle and put it away as well.

"I'm glad I'm wearing a tactical vest so that I can store stuff." Jeffrey thought to himself. "I need to remember to count my blessings, especially when compared to Littlefoot."

Jeffrey then knelt down by Littlefoot and began explaining to him why he left the valley. Jeffrey told him that he originally left the valley to hunt down Sharptooth and end his reign of terror, but after meeting Littlefoot, he changed his main objective to getting Littlefoot to the great valley.

But before Jeffrey could explain more, Jeffrey felt something grab his right boot, which was in the water somewhat.

"What the-" Jeffrey exclaimed as he jerked his boot out of the water.

A light green object went flying out of the water and onto the ground in front of Jeffrey and Littlefoot. The object turned out to be a swimmer.

"Oww, that hurt!" the swimmer groaned in a female voice as she opened her huge blue eyes.

Jeffrey and Littlefoot both looked at the swimmer with stunned expressions, though Jeffrey was less surprised.

"Oh, hello!" the swimmer greeted with a cheerful expression.

"Hi..." Littlefoot slowly responded. "Who are you?"

"My name's Ducky! Yep, yep, yep!" the swimmer jumped up happily. "I'm a swimmer!"

"Thanks for the info, captain obvious." Jeffrey sneered. "Now, what were ya doin' trying to snitch my boot?"

"Sorry, I thought it was a rock, but now I know it's not." Ducky apologized sheepishly. "But who are you two?"

"My name's Littlefoot." Littlefoot replied.

"My name's Connery. Jeffrey Connery." Jeffrey suavely answered.

"Just call him "Jeffrey"." Littlefoot added."

"Do you live around here?" Jeffrey asked.

Ducky's smile almost instantly disappeared.

"No." Ducky replied. "I'm all alone. I lost my family in the Great Earthshake yesterday."

Ducky sniffled as Jeffrey and Littlefoot looked at each other.

"Oh, great." Jeffrey groaned. "Now I have two orphans on my hands." Then he turned to Ducky and decided to make an offer. "Well, Ducky, I'm takin' Littlefoot to the Great Valley. Perhaps ye would like to come?"

Ducky's face instantly lit up, and in a bout of excitement, she let off a barrage of "Yep's" and jumped into Jeffrey's arms, hugging his hand hard enough to turn it purple.

"Alright then, I'll take it as a yes." Jeffrey decided. He would take Ducky with him as well.

Jeffrey then set Ducky down on the ground, and the now trio set off again.

After a few minutes, the three came across a fern tree. Littlefoot eyed the tree with a hungry look on his face, so Jeffrey let him have a go at the leaves.

"I wonder what this tastes like?"

As Littlefoot clamped down on a branch and pulled, there was a sudden high-pitched screech.

"The tree is talking!" Ducky exclaimed.

"No it isn't." Littlefoot mumbled as he continued to pull on the branch.

"You shouldn't eat talking trees, nope, nope, nope!" Ducky warned.

Littlefoot tugged even harder and something dark fell out of the tree, screeching. It slid down the vine into Littlefoot's face. The young longneck screamed, releasing the vine and it snapped back, throwing the little thing away.

Ducky also screamed and ran under Littlefoot, clutching his foreleg. The thing continued to cry out until it hit the ground, breaking though one of the rocks in front of Jeffrey.

Even Jeffrey flinched in surprise a bit, but he was more disturbed at how Littlefoot and Ducky were screaming.

"Well, there goes my chance to sleep easily tonight." Jeffrey remarked. He was quite sound sensitive compared to Littlefoot and Ducky. Then, he focused his attention on the tiny thing. "What was that?"

Jeffrey slowly peered into the hole in the rock, and he saw a small brown flyer with huge eyes shivering in fear.

When he saw Jeffrey, he cowered even more.

"Relax, little one." Jeffrey reassured. "Harmin' ya is not what I had in mind. Please, tell me your name."

"M-M-My name Petrie." the flyer stuttered.

From outside, Ducky laughed as she and Littlefoot gathered around the hole.

"Petrie, huh?" Ducky giggled. "Funny name!"

"I-I-I flied?" Petrie asked eagerly. He wanted to know if he flew.

"No," Ducky shook her head, "You falled."

"I falled!?" the little flier wailed as he fell to the ground in despair.

"You cannot fly?" Ducky asked. "But how did you get way up there?"

"I climb!" Petrie flapped his wings like a mime showing a climbing method.

"But you are a flyer," Littlefoot pointed out, "not a faller."

"Hard thing to fly." Petrie said as he tried to leap off the ground. But Jeffrey could just see his panic as he flapped his wings and slowly fell back to the ground.

"I guess it is." Littlefoot laughed slightly. "We can't do it."

"Nope," Ducky giggled, "We cannot do that alright."

Jeffrey then decided to give an offer to Petrie. "Hey, Petrie, I'm taking these two to The Great Valley. Would you to come along as well?"

Petrie looked up at the teen and nodded "yes", indicating that he wanted to come as well.

With that, Jeffrey gently picked up Petrie and let him perch on his shoulder.

"By the way," Jeffrey remembered, "My name is Connery. Jeffrey Connery. And as for these two, the Longneck is named Littlefoot, and the Swimmer is named Ducky."

At that, the four began walking again. Jeffrey had noticed something about Petrie's little demonstration: Petrie seemed nervous about flying. So Jeffrey decided to talk to him about it while they were walking.

"Hey, Petrie," Jeffrey began, "Ya seemed a little nervous when you tried to fly. Why is that? Are ya...scared of flyin'?"

"Uh, No!" Petrie yelped. "Me flyer! Me MEANT to fly! Me just...don't like high places."

"So, Acrophobia?" Jeffrey clarified.

"Acro-what?" Petrie asked.

"Acrophobia." Jeffrey answered. "It means "fear of heights". It's a very common fear. I may not have it, but my FATHER did."

"He did?" Petrie perked up. "So...he don't like high places either?"

"Well, he use to be afraid of heights when he was my age, but he got over it."

"Got over it?" Petrie asked. "He not afraid of high places anymore?"

"That's right, not anymore." Jeffrey answered. "He would start at the ground, then he would get higher and higher slowly, until he was high in the sky. The thing is, the reason why someone is afraid of heights is actually because they are afraid of FALLIN' from a great height, which is a right thing to be afraid of. But once my father convinced himself that he wouldn't fall, he was not really afraid of heights anymore."

"Really?" Petrie asked intently. "Once me not fall, me will not be afraid of heights anymore?"

"That's right." Jeffrey answered. "Say what: when ya figure out how to fly, start close to the ground. Then slowly work yer way up. As long as ya don't fall, there is nothing to be afraid of."

Petrie brightly smiled, but then he started shivering.

"Me feeling cold!" Petrie shivered.

"Don't worry, Petrie." Jeffrey assured. "I can help ya with that."

At that, Jeffrey put Petrie in one of the pockets on his vest. Petrie immediately settled down and stopped shivering.

"Thank you, Jeffrey." Petrie smiled.

With that, the four continued to march on through the mountains, except for Petrie, who fell asleep in Jeffrey's pocket. Little did they know that trouble would come straight for them.


	7. Chapter 7: Big Mistake

_6:15 AM_

A few minutes after she left Jeffrey and Littlefoot, Cera continued down the gorge. She soon found herself wandering into a cavern. Small specks of light broke through the cracks of the cieling, giving just enough light to see around the inside of the cave. Pretty soon, the threehorn saw that she was walking along a ledge that stuck out from the wall.

For a while, all she could think about was her bitterness towards Littlefoot. To Cera, Littlefoot was acting like was such a goody-goody that it was sickening. Sickening enough to make her walk away in a huff.

But then she remembered the (to her) unnamed human teenager who was with Littlefoot. Humans were the only species other than her own that she respected, as, for their small size, humans were brilliant minds, great leaders, and fearsome warriors. This human teenager was the only one so far who had gotten away with denting Cera's pride, but she begrudgingly decided to let it slide, as, though he was with Littlefoot, this human could act just as gruff as she could when he needed to, and be much snarkier, such as when he cut Cera off before she could talk about threehorns being superior to other dinosaurs, so he could beat her in a battle of wits. This human also had a big gun on his back, bigger than normal, so Cera knew that it would be a very bad idea to mess with him anyways. Cera decided that, even if this human was with Littlefoot, Cera would try going to the human if she needed to.

As she walked further down the cavern, she came to a dead end where the ledge simply dropped off. Looking to her left, she saw something dark and leapt onto it. It was somewhat stable, and that was good enough for her. She looked at her surroundings as the shafts of light cast frightening shadows on the walls and jagged rocks from the roof of the cavern.

Fear slowly began to creep in as she stepped back. She gasped as she misplaced her footing and tumbled down the steep platform. When she landed on a small pathway at the bottom, she looked up to see the light illuminate the thing that she had been walking on. And what she saw JUMP-SCARED her.

"SHARPTOOTH!"

Cera screamed and ran behind a large boulder, shivering as she waited for the behemoth to attack. But nothing happened, much to her surprise. Gathering all her courage, she cautiously peaked around the boulder. Sharptooth was laying flat on his back. His tail was draped over a fallen pillar of rocks. His small arms stuck out like sore thumbs. But most importantly, and much to the little threehorn's relief, he was moving and his eyes were closed. Perhaps he was dead?

Now, Cera was feeling bold, and she walked up to the monster's body. He still didn't move. Now being brash, she stuck out her tongue tauntingly. Then she started ramming into his head repeatedly.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Cera provoked.

Feeling far too confident, she ran a short ways back and got ready to charge, scraping her feet on the ground. She then rushed forward and was about to hit his head with full force. Then, she got a terrible shock.

Sharptooth's right eye snapped _open_!

Sharptooth heard a scream. But since it was on his right, he could not see what it was, as, just yesterday, Sharptooth had been blinded in that eye by a thorny vine. He felt a terrible sting as the screaming thing struck his eye. He heard it scramble away as he slowly got up. When he finally got up to his feet, he sniffed the air.

The scent was from the little threehorn he had encountered yesterday. However, by the time Sharptooth got up, the scent was distant. Now he would have a hard time catching up with the scent. Not just by the head start that the threehorn had, but also by the limited space that he had to deal with. It would take a few hours for him to get out of the cavern due to his size and the state of the cave.

Smelling that threehorn's scent brought up memories of what happened last night. Sharptooth snarled when he thought of that insolent little longneck hatchling. Right when he thought he had it and the threehorn in the reach of his jaws, the longneck's mother interfered! And when the longneck hatchling escaped, it sent that thorny vine into his eye.

Sharptooth did manage an evil grin when he thought of the runt's mother. He knew perfectly well that he had inflicted enough damage that the elder would've died of her injuries by now. Now the longneck hatchling was orphaned, alone, and unprotected. This was an easy meal.

Or so he thought. Unknown to him, that longneck hatchling was under the protection of a human teenager who was heavily armed and had deadly skill.

* * *

 _8:00 AM_

Jeffrey, Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie continued to march on through the mountainous desert as the sun continued to rise. Soon, the full force of the heat would start coming down on them. They had made it 15 miles, and now they had 15 miles to go.

"Come on, we can do this." Jeffrey thought encouragingly. "These kids aren't giving me too much trouble, and we're about halfway there. Maybe we won't have to deal with Sharptooth at all while we're getting back to the valley. Littlefoot DID say that he was dead, after all."

All of the sudden, as the group thought that they were safe, they heard a terrified scream. All four spun around to find a yellow object quickly approaching them. When Jeffrey squinted his eyes, he realized who it was.

"Cera?" Jeffrey spoke up. "But I thought that ya wanted to go on yer own." Then he noticed that something was off. "Hold on, hold on, ya look really pale."

The threehorn ran fast and hard, frequently looking over her shoulder. This behavior, along with how pale she was, made it obvious that she was very frightened. When she heard her name, she turned to look ahead and stopped. Seeing Littlefoot again was the last thing she wanted to see, and she was upset that there was now a flyer and a swimmer there as well, but her attention was focused on the human teenager, whose name she still did not know yet.

"Cera, it's you!" Littlefoot said, becoming quite concerned as to why she was so scared. "What happened? Why are you so frightened?"

Cera scowled, marched over, and got in Littlefoot's face.

"Frightened, ME?" Cera scoffed, suddenly sounding confident. She mockingly laughed as she pushed past Littlefoot. But she didn't expect Jeffrey to cut in so quickly.

"Cera, do NOT lie to me. Ya looked like ye were running from a ghost! Now then, tell me the TRUTH: WHAT happened?"

"It's something you should be scared of!" Cera snapped, terror slipping into her voice.

Then, almost immediately, her face changed to a mischievous look.

"I could be with the other threehorns, but I chose to come back to warn YOU." The threehorn grinned before she spoke with a dramatic tone. "I...met...the Sharptooth!"

"SHARPTOOTH!" Petrie screamed. He promptly jumped down from Jeffrey's shoulder back into Jeffrey's pocket, shivering.

Ducky gasped and ran under a slab of wood.

Littlefoot wasn't impressed, though.

"Come on, Cera!" Littlefoot countered. "Sharptooth is dead! He fell into the big underground!"

"HOLD!" Jeffrey loudly cut in before Littlefoot and Cera could get in an argument. "Now that I have everyone's attention, let me try working this out."

First, he turned to Littlefoot. "Littlefoot, I just figured out that Sharptooth is not dead. Yes, he fell into that cavern that you call "the big underground", but he's fallen from greater heights than that and survived. So we know he's alive. The only reason why I also thought he was dead was because I didn't know the exact circumstances of what happened to him."

Then, he turned to Cera. "Alright, Cera, before ya fabricate a tall tale on me, let me figure out what REALLY happened. Ya found Sharptooth in that cavern, and ya thought he was dead because he wasn't movin', so ya decided to use him as headbuttin' practice. However, he turned out to be sleepin', so ya ended up wakin' him up and severely angerin' him. And now he wants to hunt ya down as revenge. Is this correct?"

"Y-Y-Yes..." Cera answered.

"Brilliant job, Cera." Jeffrey said sarcastically, now glaring at Cera. "Thanks to yer "threehorn pride", now I'll have to deal with Sharptooth on the way to the valley!"

Cera looked away, her pride having taken a massive blow.

"Well, considerin' yer situation now," Jeffrey began, "it looks like ye have no choice but to come with me if ya want to live. Do ya?"

"Yeah, I do." Cera responded.

"Then ye must come with me. Ye have NO choice." Jeffrey replied.

"FINE!" Cera moaned. She did not want to have to travel with Littlefoot, but considering how this human was her only means of survival, she begrudgingly came along. Cera realized that now she would have to do something and she DIDN'T get her way.


	8. Chapter 8: Spike

_9:00 AM_

The group of five marched on through the mountains as the sun began to beat down on them. The group had traveled 20 miles, and had only 10 miles to go. But now, Jeffrey was worried.

"I really wish I could say this will be easy." Jeffrey thought to himself. "But now we know for sure that Sharptooth is alive, so we need to keep movin' and keep ahead of him."

Other than keeping ahead of Sharptooth, Jeffrey's main problem was Cera.

As expected, all 4 hatchlings had negative traits.

Littlefoot was naive, and often needed to have things explained to him. But this was natural for a child or hatchling his age, so it wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. Not counting this, Littlefoot didn't give Jeffrey any problems.

Ducky had the most energy out of the hatchlings, and had the least sense of personal space, so she was sometimes a little _too_ touchy and energetic. So Jeffrey would sometimes remind her to not be so touchy with him. Even then, Ducky didn't give Jeffrey too many problems, since she was just REALLY nice, she just liked to show it in...unorthodox ways, and when Jeffrey reminded her that he didn't like her doing that, she would usually stop for the time.

Petrie was very nervous, and he would jump at the slightest things, but this wasn't a problem, since Jeffrey would simply have the little flyer hide in one of his pockets until he felt safe again. What _was_ a problem was that Petrie was easily dazzled, so Jeffrey often had to remind him of the truth. But even with his quirks, Jeffrey found the tiny flyer charming instead of annoying.

Despite their flaws, Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie were all well meaning and nice, and they were very willing to listen to Jeffrey when he corrected them for something. But Cera was far different.

Cera was bratty, racist, and very, very stubborn. Her belief in "threehorn pride" clouded her judgement, made her see herself as superior to every dinosaur not of her species, and made it very hard for her to get along with the others. She was also quite a dirty coward, making up tall tales in an attempt to dazzle Ducky and Petrie, only to not be able to prove them because she exaggerated her exploits so much. On top of all of that, she was constantly complaining about how no one was letting her get her way. It quickly became apparent to Jeffrey that Cera had an inflated ego that needed to be deflated.

Jeffrey's thinking was broken, though, when Petrie tapped him on the shoulder.

"Me think you should focus, Jeffrey." Petrie whispered. Jeffrey nodded his head and began focusing ahead of him.

Just a few moments after he began focusing again, though, there was an altercation between Ducky and Cera.

"Come on, guys!" Ducky chirped, trying to be encouraging. "If we keep moving, we can get to the great valley, yep, yep, yep!"

For some reason, this really set Cera off. She roared with anger and leaped on to one side of a wooden board when Ducky was walking on the other. This sent Ducky flying like she was shot out of a trebuchet, and she sailed through the trees.

"Are ye kiddin' me, Cera?" Jeffrey growled as he, Littlefoot, and Petrie glared at Cera for her action. Cera was nervously grinning as a result of their reaction. But Jeffrey realized what she was trying to do. "Wipe that smile off yer face. Ya better help us find her."

* * *

Ducky's fall was broken by a loose vine around her waist, and she flipped over once before falling into the earth. She slowly got up and shook the dizziness out of her head. When she looked around her surroundings, the sound of an egg cracking caught her attention. She carefully headed towards the sound, and she saw that it was coming from a clump of grass.

"DUCKY!"

The little swimmer didn't seem to notice Littlefoot calling for her. Instead, her attention was more on this clump of tall grass.

"Hello?"

She smiled as she peeked through the reeds. In the center of what appeared to be a nest of some sort, there was a large egg. The cracking noise was most definitely coming from this object, but now Ducky could hear snoring sounds as well. The little swimmer jumped through the grass and examined the egg, which was abnormally large. The snoring was definitely coming from inside it.

"Hello?"

She walked clockwise around the egg, running her hand over it as she did. Suddenly, the egg jolted ans the top cracked. As Ducky continued to creep around it, a pair of eyes lifted up the broken piece of shell slightly and watched her. When she looked up at them, they quickly ducked back inside the egg.

"You should come out." Ducky happily urged as she climbed to the top of the egg. "You should. You are late, yes you are. Yep, yep, yep!"

Instead, the hatchling inside the egg snored and grunted, as if perfectly content to stay inside the shell.

"Come out!" Ducky encouraged. She lifted the top of the egg off, threw it away, and looked inside the egg. "You are all alone, are you not scared, huh?"

A face of a newborn dinosaur came out of the shell. The hatchling had dark green skin, a relatively long snout, and purple eyes that appeared to be droopy. When he saw Ducky, he smiled for a brief moment. Then he yawned and fell over on his back.

"We're going to the Great Valley." Ducky explained as she began peeling apart the rest of the egg. "You can come with us, yes you can!"

When the swimmer broke apart the last piece of the shell, the hatchling's tail flipped over. Ducky managed to catch a glimpse of four dark green bumps that were on the end of it.

"You are a spiketail," Ducky observed, "so we will call you Spike."

Once broken free of his confinements, Spike flipped back over on to his front and immediately began eating the grass. Ducky stepped back and watched as the newly hatched spiketail ate the entire shelter in just five bites. He didn't seem to care that the grass was dried out and almost withered; all he cared about was the fact it was edible. Then, as if satisfied by his meal, Spike just laid back down and fell asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was fighting through fallen tree branches and overgrown vines. Jeffrey had found a large stick and used it to hack his way through the tangled vegetation as if the stick was a machete.

"DUCKY!" Littlefoot called out.

"DUCKY!" Petrie's voice came immediately after.

Finally, Jeffrey swung the stick one more time, and Ducky and Spike emerged from the trees.

"It's about time!" Cera snorted.

Jeffrey, who was tired of Cera's antics, simply smacked Cera upside the head and walked over to Ducky, noticing that she was with a Spiketail.

"So, Ducky," Jeffrey asked, "Who is this?"

"He just hatched. His name is Spike, yep, yep, yep!" Ducky answered.

"Well, looks like I've got ANOTHER hatchling on my hands." Jeffrey remarked as he looked at Spike. Then, he made an offer. "Hey, ya look like ya like food, do you?"

Spike, who had just woken up from the noise, nodded his head "yes".

"So, here is an offer for ya. We are going to the Great Valley, and it has a LOT of food. As long as ya follow me to the Great Valley, ye can have all the food ya want once we get there."

Spike's expression instantly lit up, and he nodded "yes". He did want to come, but only for the food.

"Alright guys," Jeffrey announced, "Spike's comin' with us to the valley."

"Oh, no!" Cera immediately objected.

"Why not?" Petrie asked.

Cera turned away rebelliously. "It's already bad enough that I'm stick with a longneck, a swimmer, a flyer, AND a human. There is no way that I'm traveling with a spiketail as well! Besides, he just hatched, and he will only slow us down! Not to mention, it's one more mouth to feed, and who knows when we're going to find food again!"

"Cera, that's not fair!" Littlefoot protested.

"I just find it to be unnatural!" Cera rebuked. "My father told me that threehorns never do anything with other herds!"

"SILENCE!" Jeffrey finally shouted, his deep voice making him sound even louder. His patience with Cera was wearing thin, and he was tired of her "threehorn pride" and her complaining.

Then he glared at Cera. "Do ya know who has the final say of whether someone is coming with us or not? I DO! Spike is comin' with us, and that's that. DEAL WITH IT."

At first, Cera still tried to protest. "But its... its unnatural that-"

Jeffrey simply smacked her upside the head again to make her shut up. Cera could only pout quietly as the group set off again. Jeffrey had the final authority over the group, so he had the last word.

* * *

 _9:04 AM_

After a few straight hours of struggling, Sharptooth finally emerged from the gorge like a living nightmare.

The sun was high in the sky and clouds floated across it. Sharptooth sniffed the air and caught the scent of the threehorn again. But what pleased him the most was that he also caught the scent of the longneck. The threehorn must have found a way out of the caverns and ran away purely out of fear. However, whether intentionally or not, she also ran in the SAME direction where the longneck was heading.

Sharptooth could catch up to them with no problem.

He was ready for revenge! For blood! The blood of the ones who dared to injure him!

He would go after the longneck first, his initial prey. Besides, that runt was the reason why he lost the vision in his right in in the first place. That hatchling would pay a heavy price. And he wasn't going to make his end swift; he wanted to see the longneck suffer. He would make sure that the longneck's end would be slow, frightening, and painful.

Next, he would pick off the threehorn. Knowing that seeing the longneck meet his end would frighten her, he decided that he would make her end a quick one. Just a quick chomp of the jaws, and she would be done for.

With that, the monster set out toward the west, toward his prey.


	9. Chapter 9: Break The Haughty

_11:00 AM_

The small herd of 6 continued through the mountains, near a set of volcanoes. Ash fell like grey snow over them, and all of the hatchlings were tired, hungry, and low on morale. Jeffrey, on the other hand, was far different. He seemed to be a lot more energetic than normal, because while the others had to struggle their way up the mountains, Jeffrey effortlessly vaulted on top of rocks and jumped over gaps like he was the master of le parkour. This burst of energy was not just his endurance this time, though. Most of it was because he knew that they were less than a mile away from the valley.

Littlefoot could tell that Jeffrey seemed very excited, but then he looked back at the others, and they seemed exhausted, hungry, and ready to give up. It was then that Jeffrey did his best to encourage the hatchlings.

"Come on, kids, the valley is nearby!" Jeffrey encouraged.

"Come on, you can't give up now." Littlefoot added. "What if the Great Valley is just over the top of these rocks?"

Ducky, Petrie, and Spike looked at Jeffrey and Littlefoot with pitiful expressions, and Cera with a slightly irritated one, but, alas, they got up and kept climbing.

The wind began blowing hard, and it began blowing ash all over them. Despite difficulties breathing, though, the hatchlings followed Jeffrey to the top. When they got to the top, the ash initially obscured the land below, but then the wind blew the ash away to reveal something that made the spirits of the hatchlings plummet.

There was nothing below but ANOTHER barren ravine.

"THIS IS YOUR GREAT VALLEY?!" Cera shouted. "YOU'RE CRAZY!"

Everyone turned to Cera, who was now furious and frustrated.

"I'm leaving!" Cera angrily turned away. "I'M taking the easy way for once!"

Littlefoot, on the other hand, had enough of her attitude, and he rushed out in front and stopped her from going on.

"But it's the wrong way!" Littlefoot said harshly as he got in her face.

"Who says?" Cera mocked.

"My mother!" Littlefoot shot back.

"Then SHE was a stupid longneck too!" Cera snobbishly replied.

That was the last straw. This comment infuriated Littlefoot and Jeffrey, but ESPECIALLY Jeffrey, because he had seen the sacrifice that Littlefoot's mother made, and one of the few times he would ever get truly angry was if a person insulted or mocked someone who had given up their lives to save someone. However, at first, given his anger, his first comment seemed out of place.

"Ya just called Littlefoot's mother a "stupid longneck", didn't ya?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yes, I did." Cera proudly admitted. "She must have been why Littlefoot is so stupid!"

"Ya don't like me, Cera." Jeffrey replied. "Ya don't like my morals. Ya think that I'm soft. A soft person who should only hang out with longnecks because they are the ones closest to me."

"Well, that is what I think of you." Cera responded. "Ain't nothing you can do about it." She certainly did not see Jeffrey's reply coming, though.

"Good," Jeffrey replied, "because I think yer a bratty, stuck-up threehorn."

Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were surprised that Jeffrey would go as far as to directly insult Cera's pride, because they knew just how much it would anger her. Cera's response was very, very predictable.

"Take that back!" Cera demanded. She didn't like someone insulting her pride directly at all.

"It's the truth." Jeffrey refused. "I cannot take it back."

"TAKE IT BACK!" Cera roared.

"No." Jeffrey firmly said. "I shall not."

Cera ROARED with anger and began directly charging at Jeffrey from about 30 feet away. Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were HORRIFIED. They feared that Cera could outright kill Jeffrey by knocking him off the mountain. But what happened next made their jaws drop.

Using the momentum of turning his body to face her, Jeffrey caught Cera mid-charge, flipped her upside-down, and pinned her to the ground with astonishing speed. In a split second, Jeffrey had turned the fight in his favor, and now he had her pinned with no way for her to move.

The other four hatchlings were looking on with practical bug-eyes. Cera was around 3 times heavier than Jeffrey, and she was a lot faster. Regardless, seeing him win the fight so quickly and easily satisfied Littlefoot, knowing that Cera would learn her lesson about insulting someone's parents, particularly Littlefoot's _mother_.

Jeffrey had Cera in a restraining hold, and she was helplessly struggling to try and get away. It was here that Jeffrey spoke, and his anger was in full force.

"Ye are UNBEARABLY naive, Cera!" Jeffrey growled as he held Cera to the ground. "Ya think that my leadership doesn't matter, and that its all about ye! Well, guess what: IT ISN'T. It's about EVERYONE! Ye have been relying on this "Threehorn Pride" for TOO LONG! Now look what ye have done! You insulted me, Littlefoot, and Littlefoot's mother in rapid succession! Do ya feel proud of yourself? HUH?!"

Under normal circumstances, the threehorn could just squirm away, but here, Cera was already exhausted from climbing up a mountain, so she was unable to break free of Jeffrey's grasp.

"Let me go!" Cera whined.

"Not until ya stop trying to fight me, Cera." Jeffrey replied. "I am just exercising my authority over ya, and ye have no right to fight me. At all."

After a full minute of struggling, Cera finally tired out. Unable to struggle any further, she stopped resisting Jeffrey. Jeffrey then pushed her away, and she rolled over onto her stomach, where she lay for another full minute, tired and prideless. She had just been humiliatingly defeated by Jeffrey, a human far smaller than her, in a fight, and this only served to destroy her pride.

Finally, when she had the strength and energy, she got up to her feet. In a last ditch effort to get some of her pride back, she stuck her nose up in the air again.

"Get out of my way!" Cera grunted as she began to walk away.

However, this gesture failed, because a few seconds in, she slipped and fell face on some loose dirt.

Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were laughing as soon as she fell. Littlefoot almost pulled a shoulder muscle laughing so hard, Ducky nearly keeled over as her sides began to hurt, and Petrie fell over on his back and was laughing so hard that he could barely breathe.

Cera got back up and stuck her nose in the air yet again. This time, she walked right into a large rock, and much to her chagrin, the other hatchlings laughed even harder.

Finally having enough, Cera gave her snobbish gesture one last time and walked down the slope towards a waterfall.

After 30 more seconds, the laughter subsided. Jeffrey gave the four remaining hatchlings some time to breathe before he began talking.

"Alright, guys," Jeffrey began, "Ya stay here. I'm gonna go see if Cera's ego has deflated yet."

"Jeffrey," Littlefoot warned, "You better not do what I think you are about to do." He knew that once Jeffrey had an idea, he wouldn't give up on it, so he was hard to dissuade.

"I can do this, Littlefoot." Jeffrey assured. "I can handle her just fine. It's not like ya just SAW me do it 2 minutes ago."

With that, Jeffrey began following after where Cera had gone. Soon, he found her sitting at the base of the waterfall. Cera didn't seem to notice him, though. As he approached the little threehorn, he saw something that he definitely did not see coming.

Cera was crying.


	10. Chapter 10: Defeat Equals Friendship

_11:04 AM_

Cautiously and carefully, Jeffrey slowly approached Cera. When the threehorn heard the sound of his footsteps, she whipped around. Her face didn't really change, if at all, but she was clearly not happy at all to see the human.

"What do you want?" Cera choked, trying to hold back her tears.

"I just wanted to see what was wrong." Jeffrey calmly answered.

"I'm fine." Cera lied.

"Don't lie to me, Cera." Jeffrey responded. "I know that yer not. I can tell that from a mile away."

Cera buried her face back in her forepaws, far too ashamed to look at Jeffrey in the eye.

The human teenager knelt down besides the threehorn and began gently stroking her head. Cera felt this gesture and immediately became VERY confused. Why was Jeffrey acting so kind to her now? Especially after all of the grief she gave him; she complained about everything, insulted his authority several times, and just minutes ago got into a fight with him.

She looked up at Jeffrey in puzzlement. To her surprise, Jeffrey's eyes looked different. Usually, Jeffrey's icy blue eyes would be glaring or scowling at her whenever he had to deal with her. But here, they had a more welcoming and gentle look, similar to the normal look of Ducky.

"Just... tell me, Cera... why do ya act so... snobbish and stubborn towards me? Do ya hate me or somethin'?" Jeffrey asked.

"I don't hate you."

Jeffrey's eyes widened in surprise at that remark, and he noticed a change in Cera's face. Her face had softened a lot, and she was directly looking at him. For the first time, the threehorn seemed to have a clear sense of humility in her eyes.

"Then... why do ya... act like it?" Jeffrey asked hesitantly.

"Two reasons." Cera muttered. "One, you are so much braver than anyone else. Seriously, WHO else leaves the safety of the valley to take down SHARPTOOTH?"

"No one else but me, apparently." Jeffrey snarked. "Now, then, what was the other reason?"

"Well, you're always harsh with me and no one else." Cera complained. "It's not fair."

"Let me explain that last part, Cera." Jeffrey began. "Of all 5 hatchlings now under my care, ya give me the most problems. That "threehorn pride" of yer's only makes ya snobbish, stubborn, and bigoted against every other species, and my fellow humans would call ya a "spoiled brat". The reason why I am so harsh with ya compared to the others is that I'm trying to teach ya that this threehorn pride is a VERY bad thing to rely on. Just ask the thousands of threehorns who died 74 years ago when the Japanese invaded this island. Their pride made them unwillin' to get assistance, and this quickly got them killed in battle."

Cera was stunned silent for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"You mean, our pride got many of us killed back then?" Cera asked, surprised.

Jeffrey nodded his head and continued. "That is why ya need a leader, Cera. Below that tough exterior of yer's is a weak heart, and the only thing that ye are really good at is actin' tough. Once that is gone, yer screwed. That is why I want to get ya to stop relying on that threehorn pride."

"Okay, I see what you're doing now." Cera accepted. "Is there anything I can do about this whole thing?"

"Yes, there is." Jeffrey responded. "I think I might as well take the chance to tell ya why I was so ridiculously angry when ya insulted Littlefoot's mother." Then he took a deep breath and explained why. "Of course, like everyone else, there is going to be things that make me angry. One thing that REALLY gets me angry, though, is when someone insults a person or dinosaur who has given up their life to save those of others. Ya might not know this, but Littlefoot's mother died saving ye and him from Sharptooth. Basically, ye were acting ungrateful for her savin' ya."

Cera buried her face in Jeffrey's chest and began crying again. She realized that she had insulted the longneck that had saved her from Sharptooth! And now she had likely left a nasty mark on Littlefoot because of it!

"Ohhh, I shouldn't have done that!" Cera moaned. "I'm sorry, Jeffrey! I really am!"

"Oh, Cera..." Jeffrey reassured as he hugged her, "I did not make ya join me to become an enemy. Quite the opposite, actually. I was actually planning that, once ye were humbled, in which ya seem to be, I could focus on... becoming... yer friend. And one who can teach ya more about the world instead of pride."

Cera was almost immediately surprised and happy to hear this.

"Really?" Cera asked. "You want to become my... friend?!"

"Yes, I do." Jeffrey answered. "How about we take the first step towards that: apologizing to Littlefoot."

"Gotcha." Cera replied.

With that, Cera followed Jeffrey towards the others.

* * *

 _11:10 AM_

Sharptooth grinned evilly as he sensed that the threehorn and the longneck were close. If he could spring them right, he could easily get his revenge on the runts with little issue.

Suddenly, he realized that there were 6 different scents, not just those of the threehorn and longneck. 3 of them were of other dinosaur runts. One was a swimmer scent, one was a flyer scent, and one was a spiketail scent. Those 3 runts must have been traveling with the longneck and threehorn! He grinned more as he realized that his meal would become larger.

But the final scent was different than any dinosaur; it was human. Sharptooth remembered the scent of this particular human. A year ago, a human with this same scent had prevented him from eating another longneck runt when the runt went outside the Great Valley. Both the human and the longneck had ran off in opposite directions, and he was unable to catch either. Sharptooth remembered that incident, so he held a deep grudge against this human. He was ready to get revenge on this human as well as the threehorn and the longneck. He was sure as ever that this would be easy once he caught up with all 6 runts.

But what he failed to realize was that this time, the human was heavily armed and capable of killing _him_.

* * *

 _11:11 AM_

Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were bathing in a nearby lake as they waited for Jeffrey to return. They had been waiting for 7 minutes now, and they were getting a slight bit impatient, so they hoped that Jeffrey would come soon.

Finally, they saw Jeffrey coming back up the slope with a surprising accomplice: Cera. And this time, Cera didn't seems snobbish or anything. This time, she was actually walking normally. And to everyone's surprise, she was smiling.

Cera nervously walked up to Littlefoot, only smiling because she had no idea what Littlefoot would do. She feared that the insult had cut so deep that Littlefoot would not forgive him.

Littlefoot, however, didn't have any idea how to go about this either. Just 10 minutes ago, Cera had hurled an insult at his mother and then charged at Jeffrey. Now, she was smiling, albeit nervously, at him. Finally, he spoke up.

"Okay, Jeffrey, tell me what to do." Littlefoot said. "I'm confused!"

"Well, Littlefoot," Jeffrey began, "Cera has something to say to you."

Then, Cera began.

"I-I...I didn't know that...your mother...gave up her life for...me." Cera stuttered. "I-I'm sorry for...insulting her, Littlefoot...I hope I didn't hurt you too bad..."

"Cera..." Littlefoot answered, "I forgive you. Don't worry so much about it."

Ducky, Petrie, and Spike, meanwhile, were completely speechless. Cera just did something unimaginable: she actually APOLOGIZED to LITTLEFOOT, her biggest rival!

Cera now looked at Littlefoot with no nervousness whatsoever. She had never known what forgiveness was before, but now she knew, and it was a glorious feeling. This glorious feeling was contagious, and soon, all 6 joined together for a surprise group hug.

Once more, they were a herd. But this time, their bonds were infinitely stronger.

"Alright guys, here's the deal." Jeffrey told the hatchlings. "If we hold on together, then we can make it this last stretch to the valley. Are ya up to the challenge?"

"I'm ready!" Littlefoot responded.

"Ready as you are!" Cera replied.

"Ready! Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky cheered.

"Me READY!" Petrie answered.

Spike nodded his head "yes".

"Alright, then, follow me." Jeffrey ordered.

With that, they set off on the short final stretch of their journey. However, they would soon find that, yes, it was short, but it would not be easy.


	11. Chapter 11: No Kill Like Overkill

_11:15 AM_

Jeffrey and the hatchlings were now crossing a bridge across a gorge. This time, the kids weren't exhausted or low on morale. This time, they faithfully followed Jeffrey across the bridge without complaint.

Jeffrey couldn't help but smile as he looked at Littlefoot.

"Littlefoot, ye have avoided Alan's fate so far." Jeffrey said, breaking the silence.

"Alan's fate?" Littlefoot asked.

"How about I explain it to ya?" Jeffrey offered. Littlefoot took the offer, so Jeffrey explained to him.

"Alan" was the name of a longneck hatchling that Jeffrey's family had taken in when Jeffrey was 9. Alan hatched as an orphan because his mother had died of disease before he could hatch. So, out of mercy, Jeffrey's family took Alan in. Jeffrey in particular loved Alan as a substitute for a little brother, and the two grew up together. At this time, Jeffrey and Alan had personalities that were similar to that of Littlefoot; kind, sweet, and loving towards pretty much every new person they met.

But when Jeffrey was 14 and Alan was about Littlefoot's age (5), Alan ran off for unknown reasons. Jeffrey followed him outside the valley, but it was here that Jeffrey first encountered Sharptooth. Alan, knowing that he would likely not survive, led Sharptooth away from Jeffrey to save his human brother. Jeffrey made it back to the safety of the valley, but Alan was never to be seen again.

This sent Jeffrey into a deep depression. Luckily, he found an unlikely way to get out of his depression: Guns. Jeffrey became skilled with the Barrett M82A1 so that he could take down Sharptooth when they next met. The memories of his little dino brother and Alan's last words ("Goodbye, Jeffrey! Let your heart guide you!") motivated him to become the person that he was now: a strong, firm leader who had deadly skill with firearms.

"Wow..." Littlefoot said, "That's rough. You had a similar situation to me. Alan gave up his life to save you from Sharptooth, and my mother gave up her life to save me and Cera from Sharptooth."

"Yeah, I guess ye could say that." Jeffrey replied. "And this is also why I don't want to lose ya, Littlefoot."

"Thanks, Jeffrey." Littlefoot thanked him. Then, he remembered something. "Anyways, it feels like this journey's been too easy, because Sharptooth hasn't attacked us, and we're almost to the valley."

"Well," Jeffrey replied, "Half of everything is luck, Littlefoot."

"And the other half?" Littlefoot asked.

At that moment, though, Jeffrey and the hatchlings heard an all-too-familiar roar, and they noticed someone coming around the corner on the side of the bridge they had just been on.

"FATE." Jeffrey answered.

The kids almost instantly shrieked in fear when they realized just who it was.

"Sharptooth." Jeffrey muttered loud enough to echo across the valley.

Then Sharptooth did something that NO ONE expected. He spoke.

"Ah, it's the human runt." Sharptooth taunted, shocking Jeffrey with his ability to communicate. "It has already been a year, and yet you still cannot seem to understand that your puny bullets cannot do anything against me."

By now, though, Jeffrey was angry at the fact that he was letting Sharptooth stand alive, let alone taunt him.

"Yeah, right." Jeffrey said sarcastically. "Those guns were _totally_ large enough to deal damage to ya."

"Are you trying to sass me, tiny insect?" Sharptooth growled. "You know what happens when puny humans like you taunt me!"

" **I have some news for ya, Sharptooth.** " Jeffrey growled back, slowly drawing his rifle, and filled with Tranquil Fury. " **Ye have committed genocide against Humans AND Longnecks for 42 years. There is only one punishment. The sentence is DEATH.** "

At that moment, Sharptooth began charging across the bridge towards Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. The hatchlings were too terrified to move, and they were sure that they were going to die.

"JEFFREY, HELP!" the hatchlings screamed, fully fearing they could die.

 ***BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM***

Suddenly, without warning, Jeffrey raised his rifle, and shot Sharptooth 5 times in the legs, immobilizing him. The monster howled with pain as he fell forward on his face halfway across the bridge.

"THIS CANNOT BE!" Sharptooth roared in shock. "AM I TO BE DEFEATED BY A HUMAN?! IMPOSSIBLE!"

Then, Jeffrey looked around. On top of the wall behind him was an M2 Browning (.50 BMG), a machine gun notable for its accuracy and power. Several of these were mounted on the walls of the Great Valley for defense. The hatchlings could just see the determination on Jeffrey's face as he ran towards the rocky wall and began scaling the wall as fast as could be. Jeffrey was astronomically skilled when it came to climbing, so in under a minute, he had already scaled the wall. To his good fortune, Jeffrey found a full 100 round box magazine laying nearby the machine gun.

When Sharptooth was finally able to get up to his knees, he looked at Jeffrey. Now he was completely at Jeffrey's mercy, or lack of.

" **Ye forgot the first rule of huntin' humans, Sharptooth.** " Jeffrey calmly but loudly said as he loaded the box magazine into the machine gun. " **It's quite simple: don't even try it unless ye have a death wish. If ya do hunt us, we will turn the tables on ya and DESTROY ye. Like I am just about to do.** "

Once he loaded the box magazine, he lowered his head briefly and closed his eyes, the trigger of the machine gun in his hands, as he remembered Alan

" **Sharptooth, when ye killed Alan, ya didn't just break me...** "

Then, he raised his head.

" **...ya made me LIVID. Now ye will die in the name of Alan, Littlefoot's mother...** "

And then, he opened his eyes and glared while looking down the sights of the machine gun at Sharptooth.

" **...and every single Longneck and Human ya EVER killed in yer 42 year-long rampage!** "

Finally, he lowered his voice.

"And do ya want to know one more thing? This is an M2 Browning."

Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike found themselves with a front-seat view of what Sharptooth looked like when he felt fear. Sharptooth's eyes widened, his already tiny pupils shrank to practically nothing, and his jaw dropped when he heard Jeffrey's latter sentence.

"Oh, shoot." Sharptooth exclaimed as he realized just what was about to happen to him.

And then, the shooting began. "Oh, shoot" indeed. For 10 seconds, there was a sound akin to hundreds of cherry bombs going off in rapid succession as Jeffrey emptied all 100 rounds into Sharptooth. Scales went flying everywhere as the bullets impacted Sharptooth's flesh at high speed.

Once the machine gun clicked empty, Sharptooth was a huge mess. His torso was pitted with many bullets now, and he was bleeding from a hundred different places. When he had the strength to look up, Sharptooth saw Jeffrey standing besides the hatchlings, pointing the rifle at him one last time. Because he was dying anyways, Sharptooth decided to ask Jeffrey one final question.

"Who...are...you...?" Sharptooth weakly asked.

Jeffrey took a deep breath and gave his answer.

"The name's Connery. Jeffrey Connery."

With that, Jeffrey aimed his Barrett directly at Sharptooth's head and fired the last round in the magazine. The bullet struck the top of Sharptooth's head and went through his brain, killing the monster almost instantly, and ending his 42 year long rampage. By this time, though, the casualty count was high. Over 3,000 longnecks and 700 humans had been killed by Sharptooth, and another 100 longnecks and 50 humans were missing, fates unknown. Among the dead was Littlefoot's Mother, who became Sharptooth's final victim, and among the missing was Alan, whose body Jeffrey never found.

Suddenly, without warning, the bridge collapsed. Jeffrey and the hatchlings were safe, but Sharptooth's body fell into the abyss below as the bridge fell in 2 pieces. Sharptooth's body was crushed by the force of the fall and the 2 pieces landing on him, and reddish-brown dust went flying upwards. For a few moments after that, the small group of 6 was completely silent. Then, Jeffrey broke the silence.

"My main objective of this mission of mine...is complete" Jeffrey finally spoke up. "Sharptooth. Is. Dead. For sure this time. There Is No Kill Like Overkill. Good riddance to that monster."

"So, is your mission complete?" Cera asked.

"Nope, not yet." Jeffrey responded. "I still need to get ye guys to the valley."

"Wait, that's right!" Littlefoot remembered. "Alright, then, Jeffrey, lead the way to the valley. We will follow for sure."

With that, Jeffrey began leading the hatchlings to the valley again, now safe and without a predator following them.


	12. Chapter 12: The Great Valley

_11:24 AM_

The group of 6 walked along the ravine as Jeffrey lead the hatchlings towards the valley. Along the way, Petrie decided to try and learn to fly.

"Hmm, maybe me can fly after all." Petrie said to himself as he began trying to fly.

The first two times, Petrie flew a short distance before he had to land on the ground and climb back up on top of Jeffrey's shoulder.

And then, the third time, he was able to fly upwards and stay in the air for as long as he wanted to.

"Me can fly! Me can fly!" Petrie cheered as he circled around Jeffrey and the other hatchlings.

"Well done, Petrie, well done!" Jeffrey congratulated. "I told ya that ye could learn to fly on yer own! Just takes a little practice!"

Petrie happily landed on Jeffrey's shoulder without slipping, and the 6 kept onward to the valley.

Finally, the group came across what seemed to be a cave entrance. To Jeffrey, the cave entrance was something else.

"Alright guys, I want ya to close your eyes and follow me." Jeffrey ordered. "I want to surprise ya."

The hatchlings obeyed and closed their eyes.

Jeffrey led them through the cave for around a minute, and then the hatchlings heard and felt grass under their feet.

"Now I want ya to open your eyes." Jeffrey instructed.

The hatchlings opened their eyes, and what they saw made their jaws drop.

Laying before them was a practical paradise filled with open plains, lush trees, flowing rivers, and beautiful waterfalls.

"Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike, welcome to the Great Valley." Jeffrey said. "This is my home."

* * *

 _11:30 AM_

Johnathan and Cordelia, Jeffrey's father and mother respectively, anxiously waited for their son to come home from his mission to take down Sharptooth. Jeffrey had promised to Johnathan that he would come back alive, but the two still worried, as Sharptooth was the deadliest predator of humans in the world, and every previous attempt to kill him ended with not only failure, but death for the human who attempted it. Now, Johnathan and Cordelia could only hope that Jeffrey came home.

Suddenly, they heard a very familiar voice.

"Hello, father. Hello, mother. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

Johnathan and Cordelia turned around and saw something that made their day. To their delight, Jeffrey was standing in front of them, dirty, but uninjured. Sitting down at his sides were a longneck, a threehorn, a swimmer, a flyer, and a spiketail, all exhausted and wary, but looking glad to be alive.

"Jeffrey, is that ye?" Johnathan asked. He could not believe what he was seeing: his son standing in front of them, and most surprising of all, actually smiling for the first time in a year!

"Yes, it is me." Jeffrey confirmed. Then, he had the hatchlings introduce themselves to his parents.

Once the hatchlings introduced themselves, Jeffrey changed the topic. "Now then, would ya like to hear about Sharptooth?"

"Yes, I would." Cordelia nervously replied. She could only hope that Jeffrey succeeded.

"Well, Sharptooth tried to play bridge with me, but there were bullet holes in his plan." Jeffrey snarked.

"What he means is that Sharptooth is dead." Littlefoot clarified. " To be exact, Jeffrey lured Sharptooth onto a bridge, and then got ahold of a gun that you guys call an "M2 Browning". You guys can guess what happened next."

Johnathan and Cordelia were almost immediately impressed. Their son had not only kept his promise to come back alive, but he had also taken Sharptooth down as well! On top of that, he found an M2 Browning and put it to good use!

"That's impressive! Most impressive!" Johnathan remarked. "Well done, Jeffrey! Well done!"

Johnathan, Cordelia, and Jeffrey embraced each other happily. Sharptooth, the monster who had terrorized humans and flatteeth alike for 42 years, was finally dead!

* * *

 _3:30 PM_

Later that day, Jeffrey decided to check on the hatchlings. Jeffrey had decided to let them go play in the valley for a while, hoping that they would have a happy time, but instead, the hatchlings hid in the tall grass, and they refused to come out.

"That's strange." Jeffrey thought as he walked towards the grass. "It's as if they are afraid of something. But there isn't much to be afraid of. Father ordered the other humans living in this valley to protect these kids, so it isn't that. Perhaps there is a different reason as to why they are hiding in the grasses?"

When he went into the tall grass, though, he soon heard the hatchlings crying.

Not good.

After about a minute of walking, Jeffrey once found Littlefoot laying in a pool of his own tears, except this time, he, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were huddled together, and all of them were crying.

"Okay, so definitely not fear." Jeffrey quietly said to himself. "I think it might be personal issues."

Jeffrey quietly walked over to the hatchlings. Because of the implications of how he met Littlefoot, it made him very, very nervous when someone was crying. As expected, the hatchlings felt his presence, and they looked at him with ENORMOUS puppy dog eyes. Too much for Jeffrey to ignore.

"Anythin' wrong?" Jeffrey asked as he approached the hatchlings. "You guys look really upset for some reason, even though you're safe now."

"Well, it's not that we're in danger..." Littlefoot tearfully explained. "It's just...we want our families back!"

Suddenly, Jeffrey remembered that Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were all separated from their family, with Littlefoot and Spike having been orphaned.

"Oh, I see." Jeffrey responded. Then, he reassured them. "I know that it's rough that ye can't be with your true families right now, but don't let that discourage ye. I'll do my best to be there for ya when ya need me, whether yer with your families or not."

The hatchlings briefly lit up at this, and then Jeffrey pulled them into a hug, letting his arms get wet from their tears. He was willing to do what was best for them, no matter whether they were unrelated or not.


	13. Final Chapter: If We Hold On Together

_9:30 PM_

That night, Jeffrey was returning to his house in the valley. It was night time, and the moon was rising in the sky. Despite the serene nature of the valley, Jeffrey was still troubled. He had dealt with a lot of heartrending stuff over the past two days. Having to march for 12 hours straight in the rain the first day and then having to rush back in 6 and a half hours the second was hard enough, but what Jeffrey saw along the way was what made it very rough. Jeffrey had watched Littlefoot's mother die right in front of him, seen the shear horror on the hatchlings' faces when Sharptooth charged at them, and had to kill Sharptooth himself as well. But for Jeffrey, the worst part of it was the effect it had on the hatchlings. Jeffrey had always found it upsetting when someone was crying, but the implications of what made Littlefoot cry when the two first met now made someone crying a trigger for anxiety. The hatchlings in general had it rough as well. Littlefoot had been orphaned by Sharptooth, Cera had been separated from her family, Ducky and Petrie were possible orphans, and Spike was born with the possibility that he would never see his blood family. Seeing all 5 hatchlings huddled together and crying was the hardest part of it all, however, because it was something that Jeffrey did not want to walk in on at all, because it made him feel like he was unable to protect the hatchlings. Hearing the hatchlings screaming or crying was now the biggest trigger for anxiety that Jeffrey had.

As Jeffrey entered his room in his house and walked up to his bed, he closed the door to his room and turned on the light. Instead of immediately changing out of his clothes and going to bed, though, he simply sat on his bed and picked up a picture that was laying on the dresser right next to his bed. The picture was of Jeffrey's 9 year-old self sitting in a chair with a newly hatched Alan sitting in his lap, both looking happy as ever. The words on the back of the picture, though, were what told of Alan's fate:

Alan Jeffrey Connery.

Born: May 21st, 2008.

Fate: Went missing On June 1st, 2013. Fate Unknown, Presumed Killed By Sharptooth.

Jeffrey's 9th birthday was the same day as the day Alan had been born. Now, it was January 15th, of 2015. Jeffrey was now 15 years old, and he would turn 16 on May 21st. That day would also be Alan's 7th birthday.

Then, Jeffrey turned the picture over to the front. The words on the bottom of the front were very powerful words.

"If We Hold On Together"

Those words were the name of an old song that Jeffrey and Alan had made together when Alan was still alive. It had been Alan and Jeffrey's favorite song when Alan was still alive, but now, Alan was but a memory. Jeffrey still remembered the lyrics of the song, and now they were made all the more meaningful, ESPECIALLY given the situation that he had with the hatchlings.

After a few minutes, Jeffrey finally put the picture back down on the dresser and turned off the light. As he got in his bed, though, he saw something outside his window. There, sitting on a nearby hill, were Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike, definitely looking down and lonely, and in need of someone to comfort them. At this, Jeffrey immediately walked outside.

All 5 of the hatchlings were laying down next to each other, and they didn't look like they were in good emotional shape. Jeffrey slowly walked towards them, wanting to do something to ease their pain, even though he couldn't do much about his own.

As Jeffrey knelt down near them, the hatchlings looked at Jeffrey, and then looked back at the stars. Then, Jeffrey spoke up.

"I know that it's hard dealing with the fact that ya may or may not see yer families again." Jeffrey said. "I know what that feels like."

"R-Really?" Littlefoot asked.

"Yes, really." Jeffrey replied. "...As much as I may wish otherwise, avengin' Alan, Littlefoot's mother, and all of the humans and longnecks that Sharptooth killed, didn't bring them back, and it won't ever. Alan is but a memory now. Even though it happened over a year and a half ago, Alan's death is still a reminder as to what my greatest failure is. At least I laid the souls of him, Littlefoot's mother, and all of Sharptooth's victims to rest now that Sharptooth has been neutralized."

The hatchlings nodded their heads in understanding. At least they were not alone in having to deal with the pain of losing a loved one.

"But that is not the only reason why I am here." Jeffrey told them. "Alan and I actually made a song while Alan was still alive. Considering our situation, this song might be fitting. It was originally in Scots Gaelic, but here is a version ye can understand."

With that, Jeffrey began the song.

 ** _Don't lose your way_**

 ** _with each passing day_**

 ** _You've come so far_**

 ** _Don't throw it away_**

 ** _Live believing_**

 ** _Dreams are for weaving_**

 ** _Wonders are waiting to start_**

 ** _Live your story_**

 ** _Faith, hope and glory_**

 ** _Hold to the truth in your heart_**

 ** _If we hold on together_**

 ** _I know our dreams will never die_**

 ** _Dreams see us through to forever_**

 ** _Where clouds roll by, for you and I_**

 ** _Souls in the wind_**

 ** _Must learn how to bend_**

 ** _Seek out a star_**

 ** _Hold on to the end_**

 ** _Valley...Mountain_**

 ** _There is a fountain_**

 ** _Washes our tears all away_**

 ** _Words are swaying_**

 ** _Someone is praying_**

 ** _Please let us come home to stay_**

 ** _If we hold on together_**

 ** _I know our dreams will never die_**

 ** _Dreams see us through to forever_**

 ** _Where clouds roll by_**

 ** _For you and I_**

 ** _When we are out there in the dark_**

 ** _We'll dream about the sun_**

 ** _In the dark we'll feel the light_**

 ** _Warm our hearts...everyone_**

 ** _If we hold on together_**

 ** _I know our dreams will never die_**

 ** _Dreams see us through to forever_**

 ** _As high as souls can fly_**

 ** _The clouds roll by_**

 ** _For you and I_**

When Jeffrey finished the song, the hatchlings were definitely touched by the song, because they knew what it meant.

"Does that help any, guys?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yes, it does." the hatchlings answered.

"That's good." Jeffrey said. Then he realized something else. "Well, considering what time it is, it seems that now I need to sleep outside with ye."

"That's alright, Jeffrey." Cera reassured. "You can sleep with us if you want."

"Thanks, Cera." Jeffrey thanked her.

At that, the hatchlings let Jeffrey sleep in the middle of them. Jeffrey was on the small end of the 6, oddly enough, as he was smaller than Littlefoot, Cera, and Spike size-wise, so they didn't have too much trouble snuggling up to him. Soon, the hatchlings dozed off.

As he lay in the middle of the hatchlings, Jeffrey looked up at the stars.

"Alan, I hope you're watching." Jeffrey said quietly to himself. "I've grown a lot from your last words. Now I am worthy of being the Great Grandson of James Connery, the greatest human on New Stirling."

Then, he closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

From the trees, a longneck hatchling similar to Littlefoot, but a year and a half older and with icy-blue eyes, watched Jeffrey and the hatchlings doze off.

"Don't worry, Jeffrey." the hatchling said to no one in particular. "I can always see you, even when you can't see me. Thank you for helping me in when I needed you, and thank you for doing such a service to New Stirling by killing Sharptooth. Now I can rest easily knowing that you, my human brother, did well in your mission. And I always knew you were a nice guy, but now I know that you are generous enough to save 5 hatchlings from the desert outside this valley. That's my big brother. Dreams see us through to forever, as high as the souls will fly. The clouds roll by, for you and I."

With that, the longneck hatchling laid down on the ground and went to sleep himself.

 **The End**


	14. Author's Note

Hey guys, Impact here. First, I would just like to ask you guys a few question on how I did. Please put your answers in the reviews section.

1\. What was your favorite character in this Fanfic?

2\. What was your favorite part of this Fanfic?

3\. I did my best to integrate Jeffrey into the story, while at the same time doing my best to avoid having him become a Mary Sue. Did I do well?

4\. What do you think of this Fanfic overall? Did I do a good job on it?

Now that the questions are out there, allow me to explain how I made this fanfic.

It all started when my father brought home a copy of TLBT 2. I had shown some interest in the series before, but this really sparked my overall interest in the series. Then, in June, I came across this site. I immediately began looking for a good TLBT fanfic, and it wasn't long before I came upon the masterpieces that came from Elise Lowing. I really enjoyed her fanfics, but ESPECIALLY the first one, since she had written it so well that it felt more like an action-packed novel rather than a fanfic. This inspired me to do my own. However, my first attempts didn't meet with any success. At first, I tried to do a crossover with Fire Emblem, but complications and boredom from writing that one made me scrap it and go for a normal one. But my first attempt at a normal TLBT fanfic failed because my OC ended up too much like a Mary Sue, so I was forced to go back to the drawing board AGAIN. Finally, I decided to go for an alternate universe fanfic of the first TLBT movie, and I came up with this. Because I don't have the first movie, though, I had to use Elise Lowing's fanfics as a source, hence why some sections share similarities with her. My biggest challenge, however, was making sure that Jeffrey, my OC, didn't end up like a Mary Sue, so I took some steps to avoid making one.

First, his abilites. Even though he is the great grandson of a hero of World War 2, Jeffrey was not originally the Action Hero that he is in the story. Originally, Jeffrey was a very kind person, and he was only planning on beginning to use firearms when he was 18, which is normal. But Alan's disappearance forced Jeffrey to take up hard training by himself as early as 14. He trained himself to run or walk long distances without getting tired, and he trained himself to have extreme accuracy with the M82A1. This explains why he has such great accuracy, and why he has seemingly endless endurance.

Second, his Physical Description. It is a pretty realistic physical description for a human 15 year old male.

 **Physical Desc**

Weight: 125 lbs.

Height: 5'6"

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Icy Blue

Ethnic Group: Caucasian (Well, duh, he's a Scot, so of course it's Caucasian)

For Jeffrey's attire, he usually wears military style clothing, like a camo shirt, camo jeans (those things actually exist), a tactical vest (when he goes outside the valley), and heavy duty boots. This is because he often has to travel a long distance whenever he goes outside the valley.

Third, his personality. Before Alan disappeared, Jeffrey was very cheerful and energetic, as well as being one of the kindest humans in the valley, somewhat akin to Ducky. But when Alan disappeared, Jeffrey spiraled into a deep depression, becoming very withdrawn, since he did not want to fail anyone again. He eventually got out of the depression by pressuring himself to run for long distances without tiring, and began training with the M82A1 to get pinpoint accuracy. By the start of Turas Gu Gleann, Jeffrey is much stronger physically and emotionally, and has gained a dry sense of humor. However, the events of Turas Gu Gleann make him a lot more nervous, and he suffers from a mild case of Shell Shock by the end. The extent of his shell shock is that hearing the kids screaming or crying is a trigger for his anxiety. When anxiety strikes, Jeffrey is far different. If he has his weapon with him, he is a lot more likely to open fire on random objects. As much as his anxiety affects him, though, he is still a kind but firm leader, and actually has the least fear out of the main group of 6, since he is the best in a fight.

Hopefully, by playing his traits realistically, Jeffrey will have avoided the Mary Sue stereotype, something that plagues a lot of fanfics. Sorry if this is so long, but I needed to put in some info in so that you could understand what I'm getting at.


End file.
